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Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Texas flood to create safety planning ‘ripple effect' at Canadian camps: organizers
EDMONTON – Canadian summer camp organizers say they expect a ripple effect of bolstered emergency plans and preparations this summer after more than two dozen campers and camp counsellors were killed by severe flash floods in Texas on Friday. 'I would be shocked if there aren't a lot of people that are looking at this and taking pause, even reflecting on their own policies,' said Brad Halsey, an Alberta summer camp director and board vice chair of the Alberta Camping Association. 'I am pausing and questioning 'Are our policies up to snuff?'' Halsey, who helps run a summer camp north of Edmonton, said unlike the disaster that struck Texas and Camp Mystic, wildfires prove to be the main threat for his camp and camps across Alberta. 'But at the same time, it really is the same thing whether it's fire, flood, whatever. You still need to have the same sort of plan,' he said. 'Do leaders know where to go? Do we have the muster points? Do we have the evacuation plan in place? And have we practiced it?' For Alberta's summer camps, Halsey said the overwhelming answer to all of those questions should be yes. The Alberta Camping Association — a voluntary regulatory body — sets standards for things like safety and emergency preparedness for member camps, of which there are more than 40. Halsey said member camps are required to have crisis and disaster plans in place, trained and qualified staff to execute those plans and proof that regular practice drills occur. 'There's a bit of a nuance ultimately depending on the needs of that community,' he said, noting that emergency plans will differ for every camp based on location and amenities like nearby water bodies. Nearly every province has its own version of a regulatory body like the Alberta Camping Association to regulate summer camps, and Halsey said some insurance companies require that camps be members in good standing. There's also a national body — the Canadian Camping Association — that oversees the provincial bodies. In some provinces, such as Ontario, there's provincial legislation that mandates camps to have safety plans. 'In Ontario, I could safely say that we have put our heart and soul into emergency and crisis preparedness,' said Eric Shendelman, past president of the Ontario Camps Association. Shendelman, an expert on drowning and injury prevention who runs a swim school in Toronto, said he expects summer camp organizers across the country to be taking stock of their own plans and readiness following the news out of Texas. 'It's amazing how a traumatic scenario like that, even if it's across another nation, does have this ripple effect,' he said. Shendelman said he wasn't sure if any enhanced planning measures would've protected campers in Texas. Camp Mystic had its own emergency plans in place — plans that inspectors had signed off on just two days before the flooding occurred. It's not clear if staff followed those plans, as campers weren't moved to higher ground when the U.S. National Weather Service issued a flood watch the day before. Shendelman said Canadian camp organizers are considering what they would've done if put in a similar situation. 'We've heard from a number of directors who are quite concerned,' he said. 'We are doing our very best to find the experts that can help in this flood management area.' Back in Alberta, the Texas flooding comes just as Darielle Rairdan and her co-director of Bar Harbour Camp train staff ahead of the busy summer season. Rairdan said the Texas situation has helped drive home the point that emergency preparedness needs to be taken seriously. 'We don't just talk about these things to talk about them,' Rairdan said. 'If something like that happens, you need to know what we're doing.' She said that for Bar Harbour, 170 kilometres south of Edmonton, wildfires are the biggest risk every year. Rairdan, who is also an Alberta Camping Association board member, said that in her 20 years of attending Bar Harbour — both as a camper and employee — a fire has never harmed the camp or led to an evacuation. But that doesn't mean the camp thinks it won't happen someday. 'We need to make sure that we know what we're doing so that, if we do happen to have a huge wildfire, we don't end up in a situation like that where we have all these casualties,' she said. —With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
New measles cases decline in Ontario as school year ends, but officials turn attention to summer camps
Warning signage for suspected cases of measles is seen outside the main entrance of Woodstock General Hospital in Woodstock, Ont., Thursday, May 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne TORONTO — New measles cases have decreased in Ontario over the past week as health officials report 33 additional infections. That's compared to 96 new cases in the province the previous week, and 74 on June 12. The data released today brings the total number of infections in Ontario to 2,212 since an outbreak began in October. And as the school year comes to a close, health officials are turning their attention to preventing the highly contagious disease from hitting summer camps. Ontario's health minister said on Monday that the province's top doctor had a 'fulsome meeting' with the Ontario Camps Association in mid-May to go over procedures and protocols in case of an outbreak. The ministry said in a statement Thursday that if there is a case at a camp, the local public health unit would identify susceptible contacts, such as unvaccinated campers and staff, and require them to isolate for 21 days. A Southwestern Public Health guidance document recommends that both campers and staff have two doses of the measles vaccine. However, the public health unit said each camp can make their own operational decisions. Meanwhile, most of the new cases are concentrated in a northern Ontario region for the fourth week in a row. Algoma Public Health, which includes Sault Ste. Marie., is reporting 22 new cases. By comparison, one new case was recorded in Southwestern Public Health, which for months was the epicentre of the outbreak. And while the number of new cases in Ontario have dropped, they are going up in Alberta, which recorded 82 new infections over the past week. That brings the province's total to 1,078 since outbreaks in the province began in March, according to the latest data Wednesday. Most measles cases in both provinces have been among unvaccinated kids, including 107 infants, children and teenagers hospitalized in Ontario. One Ontario infant born prematurely and infected in utero has died. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content. Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
